Proper Receiving

We talk so much about receiving the pitch as a catcher, it seems maybe the position should be called "Receiver" instead of Catcher.  Regardless, receiving is the most important skill a catcher must learn.  Blocking and throwing are also critical skills for a catcher to learn and master but, those skills are called upon less…

What We Cover in Our Clinics

CO Catchers clinics are designed to provide a broad base of instruction to our participants.  We keep the clinic size small (maximum of 10 catchers) to ensure each catcher gets more attention. Playing catcher requires a lot of work and overall conditioning so we spend 30 to 40 minutes warming up and conditioning.  One of…

Do catchers get to practice their position?

Next time you are around a youth baseball practice, take note how much time is dedicated to the catchers to practice their skills such as receiving, blocking and throwing.  If it is anything like almost all of the practices I see then there is NO time dedicated to catchers.  The most the catcher might get…

Pitch Framing

In recent years the "art" of pitch framing has gained a lot of attention in baseball.  Major League Baseball now tracks catchers' statistics around their effectiveness at getting strikes called on borderline pitches. Unfortunately the concept of pitch framing is misinterpreted by many players and coaches in youth baseball.  This has resulted in many youth…

Catcher: The Forgotten Position in Pre-Game Warm-Up

A pet peeve of mine is the lack of consideration given to catchers in the pre-game warm-up routine at the youth baseball level. Watch any youth baseball game and you will find a coach hitting grounders to players in foul territory and likely a coach hitting fly balls to players in the outfield. You will…